James Franco in Police Investigation After Photographer Files Report

James Franco is set to be involved in a police investigation starting next week, after a photographer filed a report against the actor in which he claimed both personal injury and broken photography equipment. The incident in question occurred this past Friday night in the Hollywood region of Los Angeles, California.

The Pineapple Express star had attended a show by popular American songstress Lana Del Rey, which took place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. On his way out of the memorial grounds, he made the decision to tackle a present photographer and bring him to the ground, although it is not yet known whether this act was done out of humor or purposeful intent to be violent. The picture that has been circulating the internet portraying said photographer on the ground does contain Franco engaging in a robust laugh at the circumstances, but it is not yet clear if that means the incident was meant to be a joke or not.

The cameraman, however, is not the least bit amused even if the tackling was supposed to be all in good fun. He went down to a LAPD station the following morning, at which time he filed a report against the actor for what he had done. The report details the man’s claims that he had been injured following his fall, suffering a minor injury to his back based on the way he had fallen. He also alleges that his camera equipment had been damaged during the incident, and is no longer usable in the same manner thanks to Franco’s actions. Police authorities have since given the statement to popular gossip website TMZ that they plan on passing the case onto the appropriate detectives as of next week, who will do their best to inquire further into the situation and see if amends need to be made on the Franco’s part.

This is not the first time, in recent history, that a photographer has taken legal action against a celebrity for an altercation that was said to have taken place. In late August of this year, Justin Bieber was sued by a Hawaiian photographer after an incident that occurred at Shipwreck Beach, in which the man claimed that the Canadian pop star and his security entourage were responsible for both the physical harming of his person and the annihilation of his photography equipment.

The incident was said to occur after Bieber became convinced that the man, named Aja Oxman, had snapped a photo of him while he jumped off a nearby cliff. The 20-year-old reportedly proceeded to set his bodyguard on Oxman, instructing him to do whatever it took to secure the man’s memory card from the camera. Oxman then alleges that the camera was subsequently destroyed at the hands of both Bieber and the bodyguard in question. The latter man was charged with assault in the third degree, and criminal property damage in the fourth.

It remains to be seen whether LAPD detectives will take any further legal action against James Franco following a photographer’s police report detailing the aforementioned tackling incident. The case is set to be opened sometime next week.